REPRESENT

I heard a podcast about IOOF the other night where someone estimated that we have fewer than 50,000 members left in the United States. I believe I read information from the Dedicated Members for Change where they estimated we have even fewer members left in the US. I know my jurisdiction has fewer than 300 members and that’s not increasing much.

I am unsure if this past August, SGL put a plan in place with clear benchmarks to encourage recruitment. A couple of months back Heart In Hand posted a list of 21 jurisdictions that do not have websites. I am unsure if SGL has put a plan in place to remedy this situation. We remain hopeful.

I’m no statistician. But it looks like we need to clear a minimum of 5000 people nationwide above our losses each year. 10,000 would be better of course. Does anyone see this happening in the future? If so, how? If not, why not? Our Masonic friends are around a million (http://bessel.org/masstats.htm)–are we content to allow ourselves to fall by the wayside this way?

You as a member of the Order can have an amazing effect upon other people’s knowledge of Odd Fellowship. Do you ever talk about the Order to others and tell them about the things we do? Below is a list of 60 questions that will lead you to see how many people in your personal life you can mention the Order to (possibly a couple of hundred). Make a list of these people. And make it A POINT to mention Odd Fellowship to each of them. You don’t have to recruit them, necessarily. But just mention Odd Fellows. You can say “I was at the lodge the other night and…” or “I’m headed over to an ‘Oddie’s’ house later…” or “I know an Odd Fellow that…” All you do is just mention it in conversation so that others know we’re an option if they want to join.

Further: I challenge you to present (copy and paste) this list of questions to members at the next lodge meeting. Then follow up with members at the next meeting to see who they’ve spoken with about the Order.

Also, feel free to recommend our blog to them, if you think it will encourage them to join up.

Scott, your Conductor

Scott Moye is an award winning history educator and collector of Arkansas folklore. He grew up on a cotton farm and is currently a museum worker. Hobbies include: old house restoration, writing, amateur radio, Irish traditional music, archery, craft beer, old spooky movies, and street performance. He is a member of Marshall Lodge #1, in Marshall, Arkansas.

3 thoughts on “REPRESENT”

Next month I will be celebrating my 1 year anniversary with my Rebekah lodge. I’ve only missed a few meetings due to not having a vehicle, but I’m still unclear what my lodge actually does for our community. I’m the youngest member which regularly attends. How do I get my lodge motivated to take part more in the local community?

Next month I will be celebrating my 1 year anniversary with my Rebekah lodge. I’ve only missed a few meetings due to not having a vehicle, but I’m still unclear what my lodge actually does for our community. I’m the youngest member which regularly attends. How do I get my lodge motivated to take part more in the local community?

Start off by finding a cause you and your lodge can champion. Talk to your Sisters about doing a fundraiser for it. Or find an active charity group in your community that you can all piggy back off of and volunteer to help out at their events. The key here is to not give up if a fundraiser doesn’t work out so well. Keep trying. And learn from each experience how to do better and different the next time. Talking with other members online is a huge resource too. I wish you the best of luck and I hope you check back in and have a success story to tell.